Category: Introducing

Formed in February of this year in the best way possible (bonding over a mutual love of 90s emo music), four piece Little Bribes (“like the Death Cab For Cutie song innit”) are a new contribution to Nottingham’s rock music scene. Boasting strong DIY roots, the band are already working their way round the city’s underground music live slots, as well as recording their debut single Reboot/Blood Bank live at independent venue JT Soar, with the help of producer Phil Booth (Plaids).

Today marks the release of their debut tracks – doing singles the good ol’ fashioned way, we approve – split between an original, and their own take on Bon Iver’s Blood Bank. Reboot releases a sound that wouldn’t be too out of place on Brand New’s Your Favourite Weapon, in two and a half minutes letting the Brian Sella-esque deadpan meet the flatsound-esque raw pangs with the vocal work. Choppy instrumental lifts the work’s mood, with a focus on guitar intricacies dancing in the music’s backing.

Elsewhere, the band’s violent, edgy rendition of a previously delicate track evolves the sound into something entirely different. Rough and tumbled, this is what Bon Iver would sound like after a few years on the run with Foo Fighters.

As new founded two pieces go, the big hype at the moment currently lies around Slaves, and as recent breakthroughs go, the mind jumps to the likes of Catfish and the Bottleman and Royal Blood (coincidentally, the band have already shared a stage with the former two of the list). Perhaps if you took a stab somewhere between this trio of cutting edge rock acts, you’d find yourself near REPORTERS, but you’d be closer thinking of the lazy swagger of early Arctic Monkeys meets The Cribs.

The duo – Dan Stock (vocals & guitars) and Josh Ringsell (drums & backing vocals), both only 18 years old – released their debut EP Seen Leaving last year, with follow up Only Noise coming out yesterday. The three track offering was recorded in two days last December with Angus Wallace (The Fall, Spiritualized, Ian Brown) at Far Heath studios, and came out on their own label, Phret Records.

The EP’s opening title track (which you can watch the video for below) has already racked up nearly three thousand listens, and Dan reveals something of it’s creation; “I wanted to capture a youthful energy without it sounding clichéd or throwaway. It’s about both sides of the endless tension and arguments in a tired relationship and not willing to be the punch bag anymore.”

Between fuzzy guitar and engaging vocals there’s a distinct lack of bass, but somehow they compensate for this with a readiness that adds electricity to the music – at any moment it feels ready to burst open into gang vocals or subdue to a guitar solo.

Moving on, Easy Does It is a dingy but longing for the future track of unapologetic statement, allowing the instrumental to speak through the beaten down but determined vocals, whilst acoustic In A Minute winds up proceedings with three minutes of raw, one take, hazy honesty.

REPORTERS have something about them, a youthful urge or rock ‘n’ roll magic, that makes them such an interesting phenomena. They’re not shouting for attention, but they’re powering on through and doing a smashing job at it.

Though there’s little currently known about Zohara, it’s clear she’s onto something special. The Israeli singer/songwriter has already recorded her debut album in her bedroom (though if you were none the wiser you could be tricked into thinking a full recording studio was used) but there’s little to be found of her music online. Whilst she remains somewhat of a mystery, the potential she’s currently showing is setting her up for a soaring career.

Several weeks ago we posted her first “official” single, Bass & Drum, as our track if the week, but a quick glance at her YouTube channel shows she’s been this good for a while. Take her first music video, Soldier, in all its screeching pop psychedelia glory. Electronic pops shift to arcade machine style music, before her vocals wind themselves it – think the high pitched, marginally distorted sound of The Cardigans. With a terrific, slightly unsettling video to compliment the sound, the track’s popularity is easy to understand.

Fast forward past vocal lead and saxaphone infused Piano 1976 with it’s lazy and controlled pace, to her newest offering, Bass & Drum. The poppy single has all the potential to go straight to mainstream radio, a carefree instrumental cut up with haunting vocals that dance around like a music box ballerina on acid, accompanied by a mesmerising video. Her forthcoming work promises to keep up the standard, ebbing and flowing gracefully and proving she’s very much more than a one-hit-wonder.

Their debut single isn’t released until next Monday, yet Manchester four-piece Milestones are already set with big expectations and the potential to fill them. From the typeface on their social media to the production on their track, nothing is out of line, and the subsequent inspired confidence sets the bar high for them. The pop punk meets alternative quartet – whilst only having an average age of 17/18 – have set themselves off to an impressive start.

More To Me, to be dropped on Monday 1st December at 6pm, is the first release off their debut EP with the following tracks to be completed over the coming months. Credited producer Phil Gornell (Bring Me The Horizon, While She Sleeps, ROAM, Me VS Hero) has helped forge the single, which will accompanied by a music video created with the help of filmmaker Zak Pinchin (Shields, Empires Fade, Canvas etc).

Almost instantly we’re introduced to frontman Matt Clarke’s distinct vocals which then lead the track boisterously forwards, with a nod to the impeccable production as backing vocals blend into the music among an ever changing backdrop. Potholes are neatly sidestepped in terms of the focus of the track, neither overplaying the instrumental sections nor the chorus hooks, and a cliched breakdown is avoided with a close that remains fresh till the close.

Milestones have struck the fine balance between vibrant and colourful pop-punk in the tracks intricate moments, and gravitational passion in its intimate ones, with a sheen to the sound that’s unparalleled with any new act. Exuding originality and energy in equal measure, More To Me is unrivalled as debut singles go; the track’s only improvement could be a vinyl edition.